In the end, Hadwin decides to smoke the rest of the meat. His reasoning is that the smell of meat wouldn't attract much more attention than a group of more than 20 people.

The bus and the clearing have become our base, and it looks like we can't go anywhere if we want to take the bus with us, as the clearing is surrounded by dense forest that's too thick for the bus to move through.

So we all wait for the end of the [Side quest]. During that time, I drink some water, eat some meat, take a short nap on the floor inside the bus, and practice handling my skills and mana.

The sun, or whatever it is in the sky, does not move at all. For a whole 24 hours, not even a little bit. The weather is the same. The clouds look mostly the same. The wind is the same.

There is something deeply disturbing about that.

Then, a few minutes before the completion of the [Side quest], a man stops in front of me.

“Ethan Lee,” he introduces himself. He is 10 or so years older than me, and his clothes are as neat as they can be in our situation. I notice a few luxury brands and even his watch seems to be expensive.

“Greetings, Nathaniel, right? I couldn't help but notice your impressive skills. I'll be direct. I'm pretty affluent in the real world. I'm willing to compensate you for your assistance in keeping me safe. Of course, I understand if you have other priorities, but I think you'd be missing out on a valuable opportunity if you passed this up."

Uh?

Okay?

Is he for real?

Just out of curiosity, I ask, “How much?”

“Excuse me?”

“I am asking how much you are going to pay me.”

“Oh, I see, straight to the point.” He gives me a sly smile and fixes his clothes. “One million dollars,” he says, as if it's something amazing.

I give him a moment, but he doesn't say anything else.

Dumbass.

“What do you think will happen when we get back to Earth?”

“You've lost me there…”

One million dollars? What does he think will happen if we get back to Earth? Even right now, someone like Sophie would be worth tens of millions with her skill.

In 5 years?

Just a handful of people could be enough to fuck up entire nations.

One million. That's funny. Really.

"I am not interested." The conversation ends for me at this point, and I don't even listen to what he says. After a minute, he just leaves, and I get back to counting down until the completion of the quest.

[Side quest completed]

Please choose one of the following rewards:

- Flint and Steel Fire Starter- Crossbow- Short Sword- Pouch of Dried Rations- Portable Leather Flask- Small Hand Shovel- Cloak- Mace- Longbow- Light Armor- Leather Bracers- Chainmail Hauberk- Full Plate Armor- Shield- Spear- Dagger- Halberd- Greataxe- Greatsword- Scale Armor- Padded Armor- Bedroll- Clothes- Waxed Canvas Tarp- Sling- Warhammer

...

The list continues and is literally hundreds of items long without any categories, not even in alphabetical order. Just a mess of random stuff.

Obviously, I have to scroll through all of them and see if there is anything more useful than what I wanted.

I go through the entire list, and in the end, it's still either a mace or a spear.

Since the start, I've wanted to pick a weapon, as everything else is useless if I'm not able to defend myself.

The spear might be more versatile and easier to master - I think. It can also be used for hunting or fishing, and for someone who doesn't have experience with weapons, it could be easier to handle than a mace. Another advantage is reach, but that could also be a disadvantage in a dense forest.

The mace, on the other hand, is more fight-focused and less versatile. Also, I would have to get close to the enemy to deal damage. Yet, I like this option a bit more, as I should be able to deal much more damage just by swinging it like a bat, and it should be more durable without needing to sharpen the blade.

So in the end, I pick the mace.

The weapon appears in front of me. No flash, no noise. It just appears on the ground right in front of me. One second there's nothing, and then, even without me blinking, there's a mace on the grass.

I feel goosebumps all over my body.

I even activated my [Focus] and [Mana Perception], but I didn't notice a thing.

Sigh.

One more thing I hate about this whole situation.

I bend down and pick up the mace.

The handle is made of sturdy wood. It is smooth to the touch, making it comfortable to grip. The head of the mace is made of iron, with menacing flanges protruding from it. The weight of the iron head feels substantial, making the mace feel heavy in hand.

The entire mace feels balanced, making it maneuverable and easy to wield, even for someone like me who is inexperienced with such weapons.

Hmm, not bad.

I think I like it overall.

I give it a few swings; it will take some time to get used to it, but it's doable.

Okay, let's check if we got a new side quest.

[Floor quest]

Stay alive for 30 days

Rewards:

- Entrance to the second floor

- Access to Community

- 1 skill point

- 5 stat points

[Side quest]

Reach level 10.

Rewards:

- Trait of your choice

Huh? A Trait? What could it be? I didn't notice anything like that before. Is it something new?

Also, what about classes?

Does "unavailable" mean that I don't fit the requirements to get one, or are they just straight up unavailable to me in Hell difficulty or on the 1st floor?

The longer we stay here, the more questions I have.

When I look around, I notice a short bow in Hadwin's hands. This decision surprises me slightly, as it seems like a dumb one.

Then, I see a few other people bringing him stuff.

Short sword.

A shield.

Axe.

Ethan is one of the people giving Hadwin their gear.

Huh? Did he make some deal with all of them? And they agreed? How dumb are they?

Hadwin is more ruthless than I thought.

To be honest I might be disappointed I didn't come up with that by myself.

Tess and Sophie both got a spear. Kevin is already putting on some sort of armor.

So what now?

If things go the way the last 12 hours went, surviving one month doesn't seem that impossible. We already have a source of water, and we should be able to hunt a few more animals.

That's option one.

Option two is going into the forest with the purpose of leveling up.

The second option is much more dangerous, but there is also a chance that something will attack us even when we're not trying to level up. So just sitting here and trying to survive feels naive to me. The safety we're feeling now is super unreliable and feels more like luck than something that is expected.

Soon after, I notice Hadwin and Sophie grouping up. Cassian and Dominic join them, and they slowly enter the forest.

Hadwin even looks towards me, and a small, apologetic smile appears on his lips. Then, they're gone.

Well, there goes the neighborhood watch.

I don´t want to sound too cocky but they better be careful, going there without me If this were a video game, I'd be mashing the quicksave button right now.

Also, did I just get ditched?

...

What the hell Hadwin?!

Did Sophie get him as well, or was it his decision? Does he think he doesn't need me now when he's more geared up? Is his target becoming stronger than me? I don't like it, not even a little bit. And what annoys me probably the most is that I somehow did expect Hadwin to organize everything and then come to ask me. Sure, I did want to rely on him while dealing with other people, but this?

Since when did I become so indecisive and come to rely on others to take a lead?

"Tess," I stop in front of a bunch of kids. "Are you going with me?"

I'm not in a good mood, so if she declines, I'm done with her.

That will be it, and I'll start a solo career as the world's least social adventurer.

Sure, it will become more dangerous, but I can do it. If Sophie and Hadwin become stronger, I'll be at disadvantage.

Tess just nods shortly and stands up.

"I'd like to take Kevin as well; I already gave him my old spear."

Kevin is standing there, wearing armor and holding her old spear. There's excitement visible on his face. It seems like they already talked about it.

"He'll have to listen to me. Did you explain it to him?"

"He will; we did talk about that, right?"

Kevin nods. This time, he seems to be a bit more serious.

We take a little bit of time to get ready.

"Let's go." I lead them towards the opposite side of the clearing where the others disappeared. I put my knife away, and I hold the mace in my right hand as we enter. My left hand is almost fully healed, so I feel confident.

Me at the front, Tess behind me, with Kevin at the last back; his main job this time is to leave marks for us so we won't get lost. At the start, I don't forget to control him a little bit, but he's doing it properly.

As always I am surprised by how normal this forest looks, sounds, and smells as we enter deeper and deeper.

"Right side," Tess whispers after what feels like around 30 minutes of walking.

We all instantly slow down. "It looks like the deer we found last time," she continues, so I nod. "Deer level 3," she adds after a moment.

"You can kill it." I don't have enough range to hunt it, but Tess should be able to kill it from what I saw before, and some experience is good for her. With my [Mana Perception] activated, I watch as she throws her new spear. It flies much faster than it should. It also changes its trajectory a little bit as it leaves her hand.

With a scream the deer falls to the ground. Dead.

Nice, get fucked Hadwin.

"Wait," her voice is louder than before.

Rustling.

Stomping.

A tall figure moves away branches of trees and stops in front of the deer; it sniffs the deer and then looks right towards us.

[Troll, lvl 6]

It's a hulking mass of muscle standing 3 to 4 meters tall (9.8 to 13.1 feet). Its long arms hang down, easily reaching the ground as it slouches menacingly. Dark, mottled skin stretches tightly over its massive frame, a grotesque display of raw power. Its monstrous face is a horrifying sight, with rows of massive teeth protruding from its twisted, gaping maw.

The troll's eyes, filled with a predatory hunger, staring right at us.